Dog Licensing

Debate between Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes and Lord De Mauley

Tuesday 16th December 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, I know that the noble Lord is a staunch campaigner on doggie matters. What we are doing—he referred to this—and which goes a long way to achieving what people want from a licensing scheme, is introducing compulsory microchipping under which the record of a dog’s ownership will be maintained on a database.

[Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend not agree—especially as it comes from someone he would describe as a doggie person—that microchipping is particularly important where dangerous dogs are involved, such as dogs listed in the recent Dangerous Dogs Act?

[Lord De Mauley]

My noble friend is absolutely right.

Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012

Debate between Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes and Lord De Mauley

Tuesday 6th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

That the draft Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012 laid before the House on 12 July be approved.

Relevant document: 7th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Considered in Grand Committee on 24 October.

[Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes]

My Lords, for many years I have been deeply concerned about all the issues that these regulations deal with. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the Committee, but I read the reports and in particular the careful Explanatory Note that went with the regulations. I pay tribute to the Government for the work that they have done in a difficult and emotive, although narrow, field. We cannot have a full answer, but they have given us something which I believe to be very acceptable.

Financial Services Bill

Debate between Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes and Lord De Mauley

Wednesday 18th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, this group of amendments is concerned with the information provided to consumers, so that they are able to make empowered choices and decisions. Amendment 104C seeks to add a new ‘have regard’ subsection to the list of matters that the FCA must consider in advancing its consumer protection objective—namely,

“the need to inform and educate consumers with special emphasis on the unavoidability of some risk”.

I agree with the noble Lord that consumers need to understand that there will necessarily always be an element of risk involved in engaging in a financial transaction, and that they must consider carefully their own risk appetite and the ability of their personal finances to absorb any loss, and enter in to any contract with full information. We cannot pursue a zero-failure regime in financial services, and consumers must understand this. The regulator cannot shoulder the responsibilities that consumers should take for their own decisions and actions, but it can take steps—as my noble friend Lord Hodgson said—to ensure that consumers have the best possible information when they make those choices.

Both financial education—which we spoke of earlier—and effective conduct of business regulation have a role to play in educating consumers about risk. The Money Advice Service will have a key role in improving financial literacy so that consumers understand the difference between available financial products and their uses, what information they should seek out before entering into a contract or transaction, and what rights they have when things do not go to plan. We covered the role of the MAS when we discussed Amendment 104.

[Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes]

On that point, the majority of those consumers who are more at risk than anyone else from misleading terms are those least likely to benefit from financial literacy tests. They will be properly informed only if this is done in a manner, and with the type of wording, that would be simple to understand, not complicated.

[Lord De Mauley]

That is right, my Lords. In fact, when we debated the previous group of amendments I spoke about the deliberations that the Department for Education is going through on that exact point, so I thank my noble friend for that.

The FCA will set the conduct-of-business regime within which firms will operate and the requirements with which they will have to comply. Just as the FSA does today, placing firms under detailed obligations to assess the suitability of products for individual clients, as well as specifying that warnings must be given to consumers who express an interest in buying a product that does not appear appropriate for their needs or their tolerance of risk. In addition, these requirements specify which risk factors must be highlighted in the case of specific products—for example, income withdrawals or the purchase of short-term annuities.

However, none of this means that it is the FCA that should be required to have regard to the need to educate consumers about the unavoidability of risk. The FCA is not a consumer education body—that is the role of the Money Advice Service—and neither is it an interlocutor between firms or advisers and consumers. So I cannot agree with that amendment.

The noble Lord, Lord Barnett, asked what an appropriate degree of protection would be. “Appropriate” is used to allow the FCA to differentiate between the different needs that consumers may have. The detail is set out in the FSA’s rules and will be transferred into the new FCA’s rules. I will not offer to send the noble Lord a copy of them because I suspect they might be quite voluminous, but if he would find it helpful I am sure I could send a reference to that particular point in them.

Medical Research

Debate between Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes and Lord De Mauley

Tuesday 20th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

My noble friend is absolutely right. The Government are working closely with the sector as a whole, as well as with individual operators. We fully understand the need to have a sector-wide solution which provides resilience and diversity.

[Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes]

Will my noble friend give assurances about the checks that are made when live animals are exported to be killed abroad or for research? Do they have adequate ventilation? Are they being given water? How long are the maximum journeys? How is this being monitored?

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, my noble friend asks a very important question. Inspectors from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency inspect all transport operators and vehicles wishing to transport animals for commercial purposes. Once they are content, they issue an authorisation to the relevant company. This is in accordance with the transport of animals regulations. Home Office inspectors visit UK-based establishments that use, breed or supply the animals. Any welfare problems experienced by animals during transit are recorded by the receiving establishment and would be followed up, as necessary, by Home Office inspectors.